


how embarrassing

by transharry (fortyfiveangrycats)



Category: Dangan Ronpa
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Despair, Fluff, Kittens, M/M, au where everyone except naegi went to hope's peak, in which togami realizes hes a nerd and adopts a shit ton of cats, ishimondo for like one tenth of a second, it was just a regular private school tho so naegg had no interest, kirigiri is naegi's roommate, mentions of kirigiri and mondo and even gundam, naegi volunteers at the animal shelter next door, togami works in an office
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-12
Updated: 2016-10-12
Packaged: 2018-08-21 23:39:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8264647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortyfiveangrycats/pseuds/transharry
Summary: A short man with brown hair and a grey hoodie clutches a kitten in his arms, pushing the door shut behind him as he steps into the fenced-in area behind the shelter. He sets the kitten down cautiously, smiling softly as the kitten takes a few steps into the grass. Togami leans forward to get a better look— he’s always liked cats, but he’d never had any pets, and for a split second, he considers the thought of "maybe I should get a cat, because I’m just a tad bit lonely."





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ryuuzaou](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryuuzaou/gifts).



> IMPORTANT CONFIRMED INFORMATION::: BYAKUYA TOGAMI IS A HUGE NERD!!!! H U G E N E R D
> 
> thank u ryuuzaou <333 for helping me with ideas and suggesting this topic for the fic !!! im sorry it gets a bit lazy at the end but i wanted to repay you somehow for the magnificent fics youve already written,,,,,, 
> 
> but like. this fic is very gay. ive never written in togami's perspective so this is fun,,, but,,,,Togam.. is important to me. gotta love m togam

Togami relaxes in his chair, shoulderblades sinking into the cushioning. He raises his palm to his lips, cursing under his breath at the email that he’s just received from the new guy down the hallway.  _ Why did I think it was a good idea to take a job here again? _ he thinks to himself. 

 

It’s nothing much in comparison to what he’d been doing prior to college, but ever since the death of his father, he’d felt more restless than usual. Togami had needed something to occupy his mind, so despite not  _ needing _ any more money, the work was oddly satisfying. However, this specific job was a pain in the ass plus just a few more extra things to piss him off, and the addition of the new guy (a complete idiot, Togami thinks) wasn’t helping his case.

 

Still, Togami was trying his best.

 

It’s oddly relieving to have someone he knows in the office building, on the other hand— Ishimaru, from Togami’s high school class— whom Togami hadn’t been on the best terms with during their years together in school, but they’ll take lunch breaks together occasionally and vent to each other about the little things that peeve them. Togami’s personal favorite had been a story that Ishimaru had told him about a fellow employee borrowing his stapler— and  _ only _ his stapler— every day of the week, for two straight weeks. Ishimaru had ended up throwing the stapler on the floor by the end of it and strongly encouraging the employee to buy their own stapler or use the one in the conference room. 

 

But alas, lunch break isn’t for another drearily lengthy thirty minutes, and Togami’s stuck rereading this stupid email.

 

_ Mr. Togami _

_ its my first day and I’m looking ofrward to working with you _

_ \--the new guy _

 

He cringes again at the message and folds his laptop screen down, staring out the window. The blinds are pulled up for once, and Togami has a clear view into the outside. It’s fairly bright outside, and although he’s always known that it was there, he only really notices the presence of the animal shelter at this moment.

 

It’s a simply painted building, with just a grey exterior and a sign in an elegant font with “animal shelter” printed across it. He’s heard the dogs yipping and barking when they’re let outside occasionally, sometimes howling if he stayed late enough at the office, but never has he seen something like  _ this _ .

 

A short man with brown hair and a grey hoodie clutches a kitten in his arms, pushing the door shut behind him as he steps into the fenced-in area behind the shelter. He sets the kitten down cautiously, smiling softly as the kitten takes a few steps into the grass. Togami leans forward to get a better look— he’s always liked cats, but he’d never had any pets, and for a split second, he considers the thought of  _ maybe I should get a cat because I’m just a tad bit lonely _ .

 

He realizes that he’s been staring for a while when the brown-haired man’s eyes seem to drift in the direction of Togami’s office window. Togami jumps a bit, hoping that the man hasn’t noticed him, but the man gives a cheery wave as he scoops the kitten into his arms, and Togami can feel his face burning. He stiffly waves back, not letting any emotion crawl onto his face other than his general scowl. The man gives one last smile before turning and re-entering the animal shelter, kitten in hand. 

 

_ How ridiculously embarrassing _ , Togami thinks,  _ to be caught staring at a stranger? There was nothing remotely eye catching about him either _ . Perhaps that was the case, but Togami still feels his gaze finding the back door of the animal shelter. He decides to talk to Ishimaru about it.

 

“Ishimaru, you don’t have any pets, do you?” Togami asks bluntly as he sits down at a table in the break room across from Ishimaru, who looks much more tired than usual.

 

Ishimaru gives his standard, hearty laugh before answering. “I brought up adopting a cat a few weeks ago to my boyfriend, but he just screamed for a solid minute. I had forgotten that he is a dog person!” He laughs again, and Togami replays the sentences in his head for a moment.

 

“Boyfriend?” He says out loud, somewhat regretfully, because he doesn’t want Ishimaru to think that he’s being judgemental. It’s just a bit surprising, considering how outgoing his personality is, and Togami wonders what this boyfriend is like. 

 

Until, of course, he remembers that every time Ishimaru says goodbye to his employees, there’s a loud rumbling that fades away shortly afterwards. The pattern finally starts to make sense, knowing full well that Ishimaru would never allow himself to drive a  _ motorcycle _ of all things, but perhaps he’s alright with the company and the car- (bike?) pooling.

 

Another thought crosses Togami’s mind, but Ishimaru’s voice cuts him off.

 

“Yes, I do! He’s truly a wonder. Actually, that’s right, you’d know him, wouldn’t you! He was in our high school class as well, Mondo Oowada!” Ishimaru’s cheeks have a twinge of pink, and Togami gives a subtle smile and shakes his head. Oh.  _ Oh. So that’s why they’d been so friendly _ .

 

Ishimaru leans forward a bit. “Our new employee is a bit… ridiculous, don’t you think? Very unprofessional. I don’t think he’s ever worked an actual job like this.”

 

Togami is shocked by the change in conversation, but he nods. “The email he sent out was vague and a complete waste of my time.” The two men roll their eyes, and Togami picks at his lunch with his fork. 

 

Togami never replies to the new guy. He almost falls asleep at his desk, even, when Ishimaru raps his knuckles against his door to say goodbye, and Togami listens for the sound of Mondo’s motorcycle. He collects his bags and heads home for the day soon afterwards, anxious to return to the comfort of his apartment. 

 

When he gets home, he doesn’t hesitate to just walk over to his bedroom and crash, letting his bags drop from his palms onto the hardwood floors, shoes still tied and shirt still buttoned all the way up. Togami realizes that he’s very tired, and perhaps just a bit lonely as well. 

 

———

 

Togami prints a few pages in the copy room first thing in the morning the next day, cursing the new guy that the copiers are all out of ink (how he did it, no one knows, but this guy used up  _ all _ of the ink). He storms over to his office in time to see the back door of the animal shelter crack open, the man with the messy brown hair holding a different kitten walking outside. 

 

His heart begins to beat quickly, and a few thousand thoughts flutter through Togami’s mind— firstly, he considers hiding, due to the fact that this guy caught him staring yesterday. Second of all, he’s kind of excited to see him, especially after the mundane incident involving the new guy. A few other thoughts cloud his mind like  _ he’s wearing a different outfit today _ and  _ that’s a cute kitten, maybe today is the day _ .

 

He doesn’t think he’s ever talked as long in his life as he does with Ishimaru that day at lunch. Ishimaru, on the other hand, looks very captivated, so Togami doesn’t  _ stop _ talking. 

 

“A man at the animal shelter next door caught me staring through the window yesterday,” Togami explains, “and it’s pissing me off because I keep playing it through my head. Like I need more things to stress about.”  _ I don’t get embarrassed _ , Togami tries to correct himself, but he remembers his feelings as the brown-haired man’s eyes found his and how  _ weird _ it’d felt.

 

“You should get a cat, Togami,” Ishimaru suggests. “It lowers your chances of heart disease, I think.”

 

Togami rests his chin on his palm for a second, staring at the countertop behind Ishimaru’s head. “Yeah,” he declares, “A cat.”

 

He leaves the office an hour earlier than his usual time (today he leaves at five) and runs over to the animal shelter to file in for adoption. He opens the door, a little bell chiming as he enters, and almost immediately, Togami is face-to-face with none other than the brown-haired man. 

 

“I was wondering when you’d stop by,” he says, and Togami raises an eyebrow. “You just looked so interested in that kitten yesterday. Or is that not why you came?”

 

Togami shakes his head, then nods it, and just presses his fingertips to his temples and sighs. 

 

“Yes, I’m here for a kitten,” Togami agrees, raising his chin slightly. His eyes find the nametag on the man’s shirt— Makoto Naegi. Naegi gestures to a back room, which Togami assumes is where all of the kittens are because of all the mewling and meowing coming from that direction. He follows after Naegi without hesitation. 

 

There are five kittens in the first pen, and Togami immediately recognizes two of them as the kittens that Naegi had been carrying. 

 

“Is there any specific temperament or gender you would like in a kitten, sir?” Naegi shuffles the folders taped to the gate of the pen, each which Togami thinks are probably information on the individual kittens. However, Togami shakes his head.

 

“I just want a kitten,” he says, “I don’t care what kind.”

 

Naegi looks fairly impressed. “Would you like to meet with any of them?”

 

“I want to sit in the pen with them,” Togami demands, and Naegi’s impressed look turns into one of more concern.

 

“Sir, that’s a very expensive-looking suit, are you sure you would risk getting it covered in kitten fur or potentially damaged?”

 

Togami rolls his eyes. “I have thirty more of this same suit at home. Sacrifices can be made today.”

 

Naegi shrugs his shoulders, opening the pen gate enough that Togami can fit through and sit down with the five little kittens. The first kitten that approaches him is the kitten that Naegi was holding when Togami had first noticed him— a white cat with amber eyes. Togami rubs his thumb across the bridge of her nose. She’s a fairly calm kitten in comparison to the grey tabby, her brother, who was scampering excitedly across the floor. The second cat that Naegi had been holding was another grey tabby, this one with white fur on his paws and tip of his tail.

 

The last two were white kittens with speckles of grey, and Togami had never felt more happy in his entire life sitting amongst the five kittens. He looks up at Naegi, still watching over the kittens and Togami, smiling.

 

“I want all of them,” Togami declares, looking down at the paw of one of the kittens. “Yeah, I’m gonna adopt all of them.”

 

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? There’s a lot of time and money needed for taking care of one kitten, not to mention  _ five. _ ” Naegi narrows his eyes, most likely trying to read Togami’s expression. “But if you  _ really _ want to, I’ll give you the applications.” 

 

Togami nods. “I’d like five applications.”

 

He fills out all of the paperwork surprisingly quickly— for once he can thank his job at the office for paying off in the sense that he was used to signing his name after everything and was able to fill out each question with one word answers that made sense.

 

“Byakuya Togami,” Naegi says, analyzing the application paperwork. “I think my roommate has mentioned you a few times before. You went to Hope’s Peak Academy, did you?”

 

Togami nods. “Your roommate?”

 

“Kyouko Kirigiri,” Naegi answers. “She’s told me a few things about you, but they don’t seem too accurate.”

 

“That I’m an ass?”

 

“No!” Naegi pauses. “Well,  _ yes,  _ but…”

 

Togami shrugs. “I figured. I wouldn’t consider her a friend of mine, but I could see how you two could get along.”

 

Naegi smiles softly, and then his face lights up. “Hey, if you need help with the kittens, feel free to call me. My number’s on the staff page of our website, or I could just write it down for you.”

 

Togami raises an eyebrow at him. “Write it down for me,” he begins. “I barely have enough time to breathe, much less search through the website for an animal shelter just to find your number.”

 

Naegi picks up a notepad off of the front desk and scribbles down a few numbers with a pen from his pocket. He hands the piece of paper to Togami carefully, as if Togami were something that shouldn't be touched (which, he shouldn’t, in his opinion, without specific permissions). 

 

Togami tucks the paper into the pocket of his dress pants, and Naegi gestures over to a doorway as a fellow animal shelter worker (he looks like he’s the manager, especially with the scary expression on his face and the name tag that blatantly states that he's the manager) brings out five kittens looking rather unhappy about being on leashes. The manager whispers something under his breath, and the kittens stop squirming. Togami smiles.

 

“They're really good kittens, Mr. Togami.” 

 

He takes the leashes, supplies, and paperwork, actually thanks Naegi for his help, and departs from the animal shelter, heading back to his apartment. 

 

—

 

He calls Naegi’s number at eight-thirty that night over a minor problem that fixes itself two minutes before Naegi knocks on the door, the five kittens sleeping together on a cushion by the foot of Togami’s bed. Togami lets Naegi into the apartment, the brown-haired man’s expression filled with a mix of concern and exhaustion, rings of purple under his eyes that Togami hadn’t noticed at the shelter earlier that day.

 

“You look calm,” Naegi huffs, “it sounded more urgent over the phone.”

 

“It fixed itself,” Togami admits, “she’s okay now. I…” He hesitates, feeling mildly guilty for calling Naegi over on a whim, having hurriedly muttered his address to him over the phone, all for something that resolved before Naegi even showed up.

 

Naegi scratches the back of his head, brown curls shifting between his fingers. “Ah,” he says, “I see. I’m sorry I couldn’t get here quickly enough, Mr. Togami.”

 

He places his hand on the doorknob, and Togami probably says something like “please don’t go” or “no, just  _ Byakuya _ is fine” (he really doesn’t know, to be completely honest, it’s all a blur) because Naegi’s beautiful hazel eyes meet his own, and his heart stops. Naegi lets his hand slip off of the doorknob, hovering for a bit in the center of the room before Togami finally gestures for him to sit down in either the armchair across from him or on the couch next to him. A Togami  _ never _ runs out of seating for guests. 

 

The white kitten hops up onto the couch beside Naegi, purring softly. Naegi runs his fingers through her fur, and Togami thinks about how it could’ve gone if Naegi hadn’t waved to him, if he’d just walked away without acknowledging Togami staring through the window. 

 

“Do you have visitors often, Mister…” Naegi pauses, “Do you have visitors often, Togami?” Perhaps  _ Byakuya _ was too formal, but Togami pieces together that he’d at least told Naegi not to use “Mister” with him.

 

Togami shakes his head. “Well, I guess not much, recently.” He lets his eyes wander towards his window, closed, blinds shut and curtains draped over. “I haven’t had much time recently for anything at  _ all _ , much less have a party or company over.”

 

Naegi nods. “I get it. Kyouko’s not big on parties, but I don’t have the time to hold them either. I’m working most of the time.” He chuckles as a second kitten makes its way over to him, “but you can call me over anytime, okay? If you need help with the kittens. Or, maybe not always the kittens. It doesn’t matter. But I live like, two minutes driving-time from here, so just say the word.”

 

Naegi leaves at about nine-fifteen, leaving Togami with five kittens and a big smile on his face. He brushes his teeth, changes out of his work clothes, tucks the kittens into their new bed, and decides that it’s time for himself to sleep as well, falling asleep to dreams of the man with the brown hair and the hazel eyes that waved to him two mornings ago.

 

—

 

“I’m  _ here _ ,” Naegi pants, four weeks past since Togami had adopted the five kittens. “ _ God _ , don’t tell me this is  _ another _ false alarm, Togami, I’m out of shape and running of three flights of stairs is faster than taking the elevator, but it’s too much for me.”

 

Togami twirls a wine glass in his left hand, one of the tabby kittens clinging to his knee, the other four scampering around on the hardwood floors.

 

“I’d say sorry, but I’m not really  _ that _ sorry,” Togami sighs. “Besides, you get here like four times faster when I sound panicked over the phone.”

 

Truthfully, however, he hadn’t really said that anything had happened to the kittens, it had just been a breathy “ _ Naegi, come quickly _ ,” and then a click of the line, and in three minutes flat, Naegi was standing at his door. 

 

“I’m gonna  _ kill  _ you someday,” Naegi seethes. “What  _ do _ you even want?” 

 

Togami looks down at his hand, seemingly uninterested. “Can’t decide if I want to make food or order delivery from the fancy place at the street corner. Wanted to know if you’d be interested in joining me, since I doubt you’ve had time to sit down and eat something decent in the past few weeks.”

 

Naegi looks angry, but his response doesn’t match up. “I’m craving rigatoni like nobody’s business, Togami,” he spits out, “so if you’re gonna repay me for another false alarm, you’d better order quickly.”

 

Togami smirks. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say.” He grabs his cell phone and orders quickly (he’s even got the restaurant’s number on speed dial), and the delivery man is at the door within twenty minutes. Togami hands him a bill without looking, muttering “keep the change” and watching the delivery man gape at Togami like he’d just offered to give up his house and car. 

 

Naegi hums excitedly when Togami opens up the takeout containers, placing the food on nicer plates from his cupboard, pouring some wine for the two of them. 

 

“Did you just pour yourself a different kind of wine?” Naegi asks, and Togami feels obligated to hide the reasoning behind it, but Naegi looks oddly betrayed.

 

“No,” Togami says, “it’s grape juice. I can’t handle alcohol. It’s a mess when I’m drunk.”

 

Naegi giggles, and Togami gets the same feeling in his chest that he did during the only time he had been drunk, warm and fuzzy and his emotions all over the place. 

 

“You’re so  _ weird _ , Togami,” Naegi says. “What’s something else I should know about you?”

 

“I’m not  _ weird _ ,” he spits, but then pauses to take a bite from his fork, before making eye contact with Naegi again. “I like to read,” he says blandly, because that’s the first thing you should learn about Byakuya Togami. However, Naegi’s  _ good _ , he’s  _ really good _ , and he knows exactly what question to ask next.

 

“Oh, what genre? Kyouko has a ton of books, and she’s made me read a fair share of them, so I can probably make a few recommendations if you ever need any.” He smiles, piling some rigatoni noodles onto his fork.

 

“Mystery,” Togami half-lies. He enjoys mystery novels, yes, but they’re not his favorite. “R...Romance novels aren’t bad, either. I’ve read a lot of bad ones, though.”

 

“A wise man once said, ‘don’t read any romance novels involving straight people,’ and it’s helped me through a lot of hardships,” Naegi comments, and Togami almost chokes on his grape-juice-disguised-as-wine. 

 

“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” he agrees, however, Byakuya Togami  _ always _ does it better. Naegi smiles so warmly that Togami almost leans across the table and kisses him right there, but his table manners and human decency state otherwise.

 

Luckily for him, Naegi doesn’t have nearly as much human decency or table manners, and he pulls Togami by the tie to meet him at the lips. It’s as much of a dream as he’d expect, in the comfort of his own apartment, Naegi’s soft hands at his jaw, their lips brushing delicately across each other.  _ It’s barely even a kiss, _ Togami thinks, until his own idiotic thought process decides not to let Naegi go yet, to kiss him once more.

 

Naegi’s grinning from ear to ear as they break away, and Togami can’t even help but mimic the action. 

 

“Do you have  _ any _ sort of manners, Naegi?” Togami spits, but he doesn’t truly mean it— in all honesty, he’s quite thankful that Naegi had been the first to make a move.

 

“Oh, I, uh— sorry, Togami,” Naegi sputters, smile drooping slightly into a frown. “I’m sorry, if—uh, that, wasn’t something you—”

 

“Shut up,” Togami rolls his eyes, “I wouldn’t have kissed back if that wasn’t something I wanted.” He smirks, just to let Naegi know that he wasn’t being an arse about it. 

 

Naegi puts his palm to his forehead, and Togami can see a visible blush creeping up his cheeks.

 

“Togami, you know how sometimes when you kiss someone, a really weird thought pops up…?” 

 

“No,” Togami responds bluntly, “I’ve never experienced such a ridiculous thing.”

 

Naegi moves to hide his face even more with his hands. “I-It just occurred to me why you named one of the kittens  _ Franklin _ ,” he stutters. “I can’t believe…!”

 

“You really should have seen it coming, Naegi,” Togami responds, chuckling to himself.

 

There’s an odd silence that falls between them (however the room itself isn’t quiet at all, what with five kittens purring and meowing about) before Naegi leans over to kiss Togami once more, lingering for a second before sitting back down all the way.

 

“Y-You know, if you ever would consider  _ sharing _ the kittens, I’m more than willing to split the duties,” Naegi offers, smiling like he’s got some sort of plan. “Like, I could stay here maybe four or five times a week, I’ll even clean the _ litterbox _ , y’know? I could help out, Togami. You’re very stressed, still.”

 

Togami smiles. “Yes, of course. It seems so  _ empty  _ here all of the time, Naegi, especially in my  _ bed _ .” 

 

For the first time since he was very young, Togami doesn’t sleep alone that night. However, this time, he’s got six kittens in bed with him.  _ Six _ . 

 

“Togami, all of your cats are named after people portrayed on currency,” Naegi mutters drowsily.

  
“Go to sleep,” Togami responds. 

**Author's Note:**

> i cant believe i made togami name his cats after money


End file.
